Dry chemical fire extinguisher



June 14, 1949. w. E. s owDEN ?94739349 A DRY CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER I Filed Nov. :so 1945 INVENTOR. wardflnowcn av &ML %54.24

5 v r Arrrs Patented June 14, 1949 2473349 mur c McAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER ward E. Snowden, Modesto, califl assignor to Snowden Chemical Company, Modesto, Calif., a

partnership Application November 30, 1945, Serial No. 631,!)35

2 Claims.

`l This invention relates guishing equipment, and in particular the invention is directed to a novel, dry chemical fire extinguisher of the type wherein a powdered dry Chemical i-s fed by high pressure gas from a reservoir through a hose to a discharge nozzle.

One object of the present invention is to provide a dry chemical fire extinguisher, of the type described, which comprises, in novel combinetion, a dry chemical reservoir to which a plurality of high pressure gas supply cylinders connect, and a plurality of hoses leading from o'utlet conduits on the reservoir to discharge nozzles on the outer ends of said hoses.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dry Chemical fire extinguisher, as in the preceding paragraph, in which the high pressure gas supply cylinders, together with the hoses, are connected into communication with the interior of the reservoir in a unique manner so as to assure of free, high pressuredelivery by the gas of the dry Chemical into said hoses.

An additional object of the invention is to provide the dry Chemical fire extinguisher with an effective and practical manifold arrangement between the high pres-sure gas supply cylinders and the dry chemical reservoir.

Another object of the invention is to provide valve regulated means whereby gas under pressure from a supplementary cylinder can be introduced, selectively, into the hoses after use, and upon being valved off from the dry Chemical reservoir, for the purpose of blowing out any dry Chemical remaining therein and which would tend to plug or clog the hoses ii not so discharged.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device, and yet one which will be exceedingly ffective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts in general to fire extin- 2 i receive a dry or powdered chemical fire extinguishing material therein; the filling of such reservoir I being accomplished through the medium of aremovable filler cap 2. v Beginning substantialy intermediate the ends of said reservoir the same tapers inwardly, as at 3, and terminates at its lower end in a straight sided, reduced diameter neck 1; said neck being closed at the bottom by a removable bottom plate 5. At the top the reservoir is fitted with a combnation safety valve, pressure gauge and vent pipe unit 6.

A plurality of high pressure gas supply cylinders i, filled'with nitrogen or similar gas, are disposed adjacent the reservoir I, and each cylinder is connected by a conduit 8 with a manifold 9; there being a hand valve o interposed in each conduit 8. Between said hand valve ill and manifold 9 each conduit &has a check valve ll therein, with said check valve closing toward the corresponding cylinder 1. In the present embodiment there are five of said cylinders thus coupled to the manifold 9.

A plurality of conduit-s !2 cor'esponding in number to the conduits 8 lead from the manifold 9 into the dry Chemical reservoir I through the tapered portion 3 thereof. The inner ends of the conduits |2 project only a slight distance into the reservoir l and are disposed substantally tangentially of the reservoir portion 3 and ina as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1- is a diagrammatic plan view of the apparatus.

upstanding pressure-tight reservoir i adapted to spital path; the spacing of said nozzles being substantially equal circumferentially of the reservor, and the nozzles all discharging in the same direction. A check valve M is interposed in each conduit i2 and closes toward the manifold 9.

A plurality of outlet pipes' l5, here four in number, lead from within the neck 4 of the reservoir outwardly to connection, as at IS, with flexible fire hoses ll, on the outer end of which suitable discharge nozzles (not shown) are affixed. The*outlet pipes !5 lead out from the neck 4 from circumferentially and relatively widely spaced intake points above the bottom plate 5 in substantial clearance relation, as is clearly shown, and said pipes include hand valves sa therein.

When it is desired to use the above described dry chemical fire. extinguishing arrangement the hand valves o on the cylinders 'I are opened feeds from the n'eck l of the rese'voir into the pipes !5, whose valves l'l are open, and thence delivers to the corresponding fire hoses I'I.

With the dry chemical, high pressure gas mixture thus being used, the entry of gas into the 'eservoir through the nozzles II produces a turbulence or agitation of the dry chemical in said reservoir such that free and positive outlet of the dry chemical-gas mixture into the pipes IS is assured. This turbulenee or agitation is effectively produced by reason of the tangential disposition of the nozzles i: in the taper portion 3 of the reservoir in a spiral path and in circumferentially spaced relation.

After use of the equipment the hand valves o and !8 are closed, but thereafter it is desirable that the hoses H be blown out in order to remove therefrom the dry chemicai which remains in the same, and which dry chemical, if not blown out, will tend to clog the hoses against effective subsequent use. The following arrangement is employed to blow out the hoses |1 after each use thereof:

A supplemental cylinde- !9 is connected by a conduit 20 with another manii'old 21; there being a hand valve 22 in the conduit 20. Other conduits 23 lead from the manifold 2! to each of the pipes !5 between the connections !6 and hand valves 18. It will thus be seen that when the hand valve 22 is opened high pressure gas from the supplemental cylinder sa feeds through the manifold 21 and conduits 23 into the hoses H, whereby those of the letter which 'have been used may be blown out to remove dry Chemical therefrom.

Should occasion demand the supplemental cylinder 19 may be connected to the manifold 9 through the medium of aconduit 28 which in-` ciudes a hand valve 25 therein.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there has beenproduced such a device as substantially fulfllls the objeets of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred Construction of the deviee, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

4 Number 1. A dry chemical fire extinguisher comprising a pressure tight reservoir for dry chemical, a piurality of high pressure gas supply cylinders, a manifold, separate conduits leading from the cylinders to the manifold. other separate conduits leading from' the manifold to the reservoir. hand valves in said first named conduits, check valves in said first named conduits between the hand valves and manifold and closing toward the cylinders, check valves in said other separate conduits closing toward the manifold, outlet pipes leading from the reservoir, and fire hoses coupled to said pipes.

2. A dry chemical fire extinguisher comprising a pressure tight reservoir for dry chemical, a pluraiity of high pressure gas supply cylinders, a manifold, separate valve controlled conduits leading from the cylinders to the manifold, other separate valve controlled conduits leading from the manifold to the reservoir, a plurality of outlet pipes leading from the reservoir, a, hand valve in each of said outlet pipes, a fire hose coupled to each outlet pipe beyond the corresponding hand valve, another manifold, separate conduits leading from said other manifold to the outlet pipes between corresponding hand valves and fire hoses, a separate high pressure gas supply cylinder, a, feed conduit leading from said 'separate cylinder to the first named manifold, and another feed conduit leading from said separate cylinder to said other manifold; there being a normally closed hand valve in each of the feed conduits.

WARD E. SNOWDEN.

REFEREN CES 'CITED The following references are of record 'm the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Singer Jan. 12, 1892 Dewey Jan. 5, 1926 Johnson May 11, 1926 Dugas Sept. 13, 1932 Kennedy Mar. 3, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France July 27, 1928 France Nov. 12, 1935 Number 

